Leon County commissioners are taking a dual-track approach to fire services. They are open to renegotiating their deal with Tallahassee but they're also preparing to create their own county fire department if agreements fall through.
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Leon County commissioners advance dual-track fire plan as outside firm probes multimillion-dollar gapCounty commissioners voted Tuesday to pursue it, the recommendation of county-hired consulting firm Fitch & Associates.
Commissioners added another provision, allowing another independent firm, Benesch, to determine if Leon County incurred any damages from the City of Tallahassee's management of the fire services fund.
"We have to make sure we're advocating as we always have for every dollar that belongs to Leon County residents, and we should not go back to taxpayers asking them to fund a $3 million fire department when they've already been funding a fire department the last 15, 20 years and being imposed a rate that's not fair and accurate, Caban said. We need to recoup those costs if they don't do a deal with us.
A recent Benesch report found a revenue shortfall between $15 million and $21 million in the fund, which they say came from missing and inconsistent billing.
The City sent a statement in response last week, saying it will defend itself against all accusations and allegations made by Leon County.
"We are actively engaged in a dispute resolution process initiated by Leon County regarding the expiration of the interlocal agreement under which the City provides fire services to the County. The City will defend itself against all accusations and allegations made by Leon County," City Attorney Amy Toman said.
"Guys, we're just trying to defend our taxpayers and these violations, it must be stated for the listening public, are rooted in arrogance. They are rooted in contempt," County Commissioner Brian Welch said.
Renegotiating a deal with the city wouldn't cause any disruptions in current service or start-up costs.
But consultants say provisions like having annual independent audits of the fire service fund and budget reviews should be required in the contract.
A county-run fire department would cost $30 million to buy six existing city fire stations.
Without automatic aid agreements with the city which sends the closest unit to an emergency regardless of city limits the number of fire departments the county would need to keep the same level of service changes, and so would the start-up costs.
However, the county has the discretion to build its own fire station at a lower price.
Commissioner David O'Keefe raised questions like how this model would work with future annexations and how county-run firefighter salaries would compare with the city's.
Still, Commissioner Rick Minor says he's still optimistic an agreement can be reached.
"In a couple weeks, we're going to have some new players at the table, Minor said. I'm optimistic that we will be able to find a solution that benefits folks within the city as well as within the county unincorporated areas.
The commission will meet again on November 17 to ratify this decision. That would officially start the 90-day period of renegotiation and building a county-run fire service plan. That date also considers the election, which would shake up the city's leadership.
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